How to stop dads from dying young

Chad Lindsay acted after attending three funerals in a year for high school friends

The cover of Chad Lindsay's ebook "Long Live Dads". It sets out a 12 week lifestyle program for men aged 35 to 45. (Courtesy www.longlivedads.com )

A Halifax dad wants to make sure more men live to see their children grow up and has written a book to give them the health and nutrition information he says will help them accomplish that goal.

Chad Lindsay decided to write Long Live Dads after attending the third funeral in a year for high school friends who died suddenly. All the men were in their late 30s and early 40s and died from heart attacks or strokes. In high school, all three were active in sports and fitness.

Lindsay watched one man’s son sobbing in the arms of his grandmother. He says the boy was about 10 and now faces growing up without a father.

“That was heartbreaking for me,” he says. “It obviously made me think of my sons and my mortality and what is going on in this particular province to cause this type of health condition.”

'Men tend to be really tough on the exterior'- Chad Lindsay

He decided to write a book aimed at providing health and well being information to men aged 35 to 45.

Lindsay started doing the research and discovered Nova Scotia has the highest rates of heart disease in Canada.

“People dealing with all those related conditions of heart attacks, strokes, arteriosclerosis, hardening of the arteries, all those things are really prevalent here.”

Lindsay spoke with doctors, government officials, nutritionists and trainers. He also spoke with men who fell into the demographic and discovered it was tough to get an honest self assessment on their health.

“Men tend to be really tough on the exterior,” he says. “Initially they’re like, ‘Yeah, I eat this and I don’t exercise anymore, but I was great when I was a high school athlete.’”

Book has a focused reach

Lindsay saw the fear in many men that they wouldn’t live to see their sons and daughters grow up.

Part of the problem, he says, is a change in priorities once men get married and have children. He says time and work pressures lead to quick food choices and limited energy for exercise. Lindsay admits he’s in the same boat.

Lindsay says there is information overload on diet and nutrition, but Long Live Dads targets a specific audience.

The book sets out a 12-week program. Lindsay says it’s all about being able to live with the lifestyle.

“We’re trying to get to the point where we’re not shooting for perfection,” he says. “But why don’t we try to incorporate some things that are going to make your life better and longer lasting? I think 12 weeks is a good time to establish good habits.”